FAKE ONLINE DEGREES

 NUC, Online  degrees: flirting with dangers?

Stay away from agencies offering college degrees based on life experiences. Your credentials won’t be worth the paper they are printed on

By  Akintunde Albert Ogoh

Sometimes ago at the University of Agriculture, Umudike, Abia State, two lecturers were demoted for parading online PhD degrees. That was in 2012. At that time, some anger were directed at the authorities of the institution until the National Universities Commission spoke: those degrees were fake. Now with some investigation by BravoNews, it is discovered that truly there are so many fake online degrees being awarded to Nigerians.

Of course, education is a gateway to development, but there is need for caution about acquisition of  online degrees we expose online degree mills based outside the country but targeting residents here. This is because instead of getting you hired, qualifications bought online could land you in trouble.

Razaq  has an MBA from Ashford University (UK), Nnamdi, a degree in computer networking from Rochville University, and Duduyemi, a doctorate from Midtown University.

None of these universities exist. Yet Segun, Nnamdi  and Duduyemi, like many other UAE residents, have hope to secure high-paying jobs on the strength of worthless certificates issued by these bogus institutes.

Don’t believe this? Go to Google and type the name of any of these colleges + Nigeria + manager/CEO/executive.

You will find numerous LinkedIn profiles boasting degrees issued by these fake colleges.
BravoNews  randomly picked one such LinkedIn profile and rang up S.A, a Lagos-based manager who works for an electronics firm and lists an MBA degree from Rochville in his credentials.
“My degree is genuine and attested by all relevant agencies. What’s your problem?” demanded  S.A.
The problem is that S.A’s fellow alumni is a dog. The year S.A. got his degree, Rochville also awarded an MBA to a canine. This happened when a Singapore-based journalist enrolled his pup, Chester, for the university’s online MBA programme.
The degree came in a parcel couriered from a Dubai address. Chester has since become a mascot of the website www.geteducated.com which helps people understand the importance of distance learning accreditation and warns them about degree mills and life experience colleges.
Yet degree mills continue to churn out scores of certificates to Nigerians every year.
“Most people are unaware they are being scammed, but there are instances of them knowingly taking these shortcuts in the belief that are getting good degrees,” said an HR manager. “They’re flirting with danger; instead of getting them hired, these degrees could get people into serious legal problems,” he warned.
To get to the bottom of the scam, this BravoNews journalist registered with several online degree mills that offer “affordable, accredited and instant” US college degrees for little as $200.
Mode of operation
All of them follow the same predatory trajectory.
Within seconds of registering, a live chat window pops up on the computer screen. Soon you are connected to a ‘counsellor’ or ‘professor’. He seeks your contact number, calls you instantaneously and pesters you to pay the $199 enrolment fee. For good measure, he also mails you the degree sample along with a payment link.
 Interactions
BravoNews  has   chats with some of these fake degree machines.  The one with a  man who introduced himself as professor Tom Jones of Edgebrook University in California went like this:
“Can I get an MBA degree quickly,” this reporter enquired.
“You have experience?” he asked in heavily accented English.
“Yes, around six years.”
“Wonderful, we are offering degrees on the basis of a candidate’s experience. We will convert your work experience into credit hours and, on behalf of that experience, our university will award you the master’s degree. You don’t need classes. You’ll get the degree in four weeks, sir. It will cost you $500. Attestation will cost extra.”
At www.experiencebasedgraduate.com, counsellor Djvon Connor claimed the degrees are recognised internationally and at www.gcconlinedegrees.com, the caller named some Nigerian firms where the alumni of their partner universities are supposedly employed.
The sales pitch was always high pressured, often aggressive.
In three weeks, Midtown University called this journalist 56 times and Edgebrook, 29.
“Why waste this opportunity? Give me your credit card details, I will make the payment on your behalf,” suggested Professor Peter Hill from Midtown University.
By a conservative estimate there are over 300 degree/diploma mills worldwide. And they advertise aggressively.
 “A real college will never advertise through popups and tele-marketing,” said a  Lagos based academic counsellor. “The fact that these degrees are easily attested gives them some kind of legitimacy in the eyes of employers here, but at the end of the day they are bogus qualifications,” he added.
In 2009, the US Department of Justice blacklisted 10,000 people for purchasing fake qualifications from a degree mill in Washington. Among them, over 180 were from the Middle East including about 250 from Nigeria.
The Ministry of  Education  has repeatedly warned Nigerians to check with it before enrolling for an internet course. But many people hardly listen
 According to  the NUC, it is absolutely necessary to be very careful as you search for  accredited online universities, colleges or E-learning centres that meet your expectations for the following reasons:
1. To ensure good quality of courses and programs online
2. It gives room for orderly process of recruiting and admission exercise
strictly followed.
3. The awarded degrees to have legitimate backing
4. To ensure that the course credits earned are not fake but recognised and can be transfered to other universities if need be for further use.
5. Employers do their findings upon your certificate before employment

List of some selected accredited online universities and their links
1. GRACELAND UNIVERSITY - Graduate/Online Programmes.
Founded in 1895, was created with the purpose of offering an education grounded in the core values of caring and community The school is accredited. See http://www.graceland.edu/About-GU/Accreditation/index
2. University of Phoenix
Founded in 1976 by Dr. John Sperling made a commitment to provide working adults with local higher education options at convenient class times. The school is among the topmost online degree universities with credible accreditation status. See http://www.phoenix.edu/about_us/accreditation.html
 3. Kaplan University
http://online.kaplanuniversity.edu/Pages/KU_Accreditation.aspx
4. Capella Universityhttp://www.capella.edu/about_capella/accreditation.aspx
5. Devry University
http://www.devry.edu/whydevry/accreditation.jsp
6. Liberty University
As part of the world’s largest Christian university, Liberty University Online offers a unique approach to distance education.
http://www.liberty.edu/index.cfm?PID=7650
7. Walden University
http://www.waldenu.edu/About-Us/18870.htm
8. American Intercontinental University
http://www.aiuniv.edu/About-AIU/Accreditation-and-Licensure
9. Ashford University
http://www.ashford.edu/about/accreditations_and_associations.htm
10. National Open University of Nigeria (Open Course Ware) - Open and Distance Education. Accredited by National University Commission http://www.nou.edu.ng/noun/index.htm
Any  other online degree awarding university outside these ones should be clarified with the NUC . failure to do so is throw money away to degree mills which give people ordinary paper which one can better easily pick at the front of his house. 
   What is a degree mill
A degree mill is an unaccredited higher education institution that offers illegitimate academic degrees for a fee. These degrees may claim to give credit for relevant life experience, but should not be confused with legitimate prior learning assessment programmes. These education scams prey on consumer ignorance about terms like “accreditation” and “licensing. Using such degrees in resumes can result in legal issues.

Akintunde Albert Ogoh  akinspapa2010@gmail.com